New wellness center breaks ground in South San Francisco

“This is a one-stop shop,” County Executive Officer Mike Callagy said at the groundbreaking. “This is really part of what this board is trying to do in bringing government to the people instead of having people come to the government.”

Located at 1024 Mission Road, making these essential services more closely available to residents who live in the more northern parts of the county hopes to help provide high-quality care to a historically underserved area, Supervisor Dave Pine said. 

“Residents face transit and language barriers and the fact that many of our services in the south county all contribute to the challenges that our north county residents face,” said Pine, who represents South City, Millbrae and Burlingame. “This new wellness center will change all of that.” 

The 77,000-square-foot center is the latest capital improvement project funded by the county. Callagy said they have dedicated around $1 billion into infrastructure, improving the quality of services and meeting residents where they’re at with sustainable and innovative design. 

For Supervisor David Canepa, who represents the most northern parts of the county including Daly City, this wellness center will address the area’s “health desert” and serve around 10,000 patients a year. 

“What I hope this project represents is that North County has never been forgotten,” Canepa said. “This is an expansion on what the county work has been in north county.” 

Beyond its services, the building will also be constructed to high environmental standards with a calming design that makes those receiving services feel welcome. 

The building will be built with mass timber, or compressed layers of wood, and designed to be all-electric and certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. 

The county recently completed its new office building in Redwood City using a similar structure plan and materials, and is noted as the most sustainable civic building in the country. Canepa said this wellness center will look to accomplish a similar merit as the greenest health care building in the county.

“When we talk about sustainability, the county continues to lead,” he said.

The wellness center is positioned in a developing community center in South San Francisco, with a new library, parks and recreation center, and police department all along the same street. A new housing development is also slated to be built right across from the wellness center, said James Coleman, mayor of South San Francisco. 

“We are creating an ecosystem right here, a new community right where we are standing, where people can access all the services that they need,” Coleman said. “All roads lead to health, wellness and community connection here in South San Francisco.”

Making these resources accessible and proximal to north county residents who are often underserved, this state-of-the-art wellness center hopes to close that gap of quality care, Callagy said. 

“When we’re talking about health care services, we’re talking about services second to none,” Callagy said. “That’s the standard of this county, it is the very best.”

ana@smdailyjournal.com

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